In September, 1991, when Assange was twenty, he hacked into the master terminal that Nortel, the Canadian telecom company, maintained in Melbourne, and began to poke around.

NEWYORKER: No Secrets

The International Subversives had been visiting the master terminal frequently.

NEWYORKER: No Secrets

The New Yorker article, published earlier this year, described how in 1991, Assange hacked into the master terminal of the telecom company Nortel, after which he developed a growing fear of arrest.

CNN: The secret life of Julian Assange